Crown Land Management Act 2016

The Minister may grant a special purpose lease or special purpose licence over Crown land.

A special purpose lease or special purpose licence is a lease or licence over Crown land that is granted for the purpose of enabling its holder to do any one or more of the following—

to construct and operate facilities for the harnessing of energy from any source (including the sun or wind) and its conversion into electricity energy,

to remove gravel, sand or any other material (whether or not a mineral as defined in the Mining Act 1992),

to construct, operate or maintain telecommunications infrastructure,

to carry out any other development of a kind approved by the Minister under subsection (3).

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, approve kinds of development for which a special purpose holding may be granted.

The Minister cannot grant a special purpose holding over Crown land already subject to a general purpose lease without its holder’s written consent unless—

it is a special purpose licence to enable its holder to remove gravel, sand or any other material that is not a mineral as defined in the Mining Act 1992, or

it is a special purpose licence to enable its holder to construct, operate or maintain telecommunications infrastructure, or

it is a special purpose holding of a kind prescribed by the regulations.

Also, the Minister cannot grant a special purpose holding over Crown land already under any of the following leases without the consent of the Minister administering the Act concerned—

a mining lease under the Mining Act 1992,

a production lease under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991.

The maximum term for which a special purpose holding may be granted (including the period of any option to renew) is 100 years.

A written consent given for the purposes of subsection (4) by the lessee under a general purpose lease is irrevocable and binds each successor in title to the land the subject of that lease.

This section does not limit the Minister’s powers under section 5.3 or Divisions 5.5 and 5.6.